Death... and me

Not long after, Nascent Soul Realm experts began to fly into the hole where the mountain was located. Juvian then looked at Tiria before saying.

"Take a look at the twins. I'll go there as well to see how things are inside."

Tiria nodded as Juvian disappeared off into the distance with other experts of the other sects. As one could imagine, Laan City's experts also went there to check while the low-level ones waited behind. Since they would need to wait, Tiria took the chance to ask the twins about the situation through Spiritual Sense.

'Was this related to the two of you?'

Rean and Roan immediately shook their heads. They had opted for acquiring information. However, the disappearance of the city had nothing to do with them. First of all, they still had a lot of questions to ask the Artifact Spirit.

'We have no idea either. We opted to ask for a few pieces of information instead of getting rewards. We even met an Artifact Spirit.'

Tiria was puzzled.

'Artifact Spirit? What's that?'

The twins thought that someone of Tiria's status would know, but it seemed like even she had never heard of it. Without any other choice, the twins told her the same thing Wario told them.

'So the city was, in fact, a piece of equipment? No wonder we couldn't inflict any damage to the walls after we entered it. Just what level does it have to be to reach this state? Even something like an Artifact Spirit was born in it.'

Rean and Roan nodded.

'We were also shocked by that. We didn't know that a piece of equipment could acquire sentience.'

Tiria narrowed her eyes.

'Anyway, what was it that you wanted to know?'

Rean shrugged his shoulders.

'Something that we can't get in this place. Information about Light and Dark element cultivation techniques and skills.'

Tiria was taken aback. Indeed, their sect didn't have any cultivation technique or skill for Light or Dark Element cultivators. In fact, probably even the Imperial Family wouldn't have such a thing due to how rare such an elemental affinity was.

'But why would Wario ask to bring you away to talk about that? Also, why would you need Rank Four Spirit Stones?"

Rean and Roan shook their heads. Of course, those were blatant lies. However, they couldn't talk about things involving the Soul Gem System either.

'Perhaps Light and Dark Element techniques have some secrets? As for the Rank Four Spirit Stones, we wanted to use them to buy the techniques if they didn't want to give it to us.'

Tiria's instinct told her that Rean and Roan were definitely hiding something from her. However, it was a fact that everyone had the chance to select any reward they wanted. Before everyone was teleported outside, they were all able to choose the things they wanted in the end. It might not look like that, but Rean and Roan's conversation took quite some time, which was enough for the others.

Tiria then looked at a Jade Slip in her hands. It had a cultivation technique of the water element extremely compatible to her constitution. She was even planning to pass it to Mia since Mia also had a Water Element Affinity. On top of that, this cultivation technique was targeted towards women.

Everyone waited around an hour before those experts returned from the hole. Juvian headed straight for Tiria to tell her what they found.

"Empty. There is absolutely nothing there anymore. Just a super deep hole that goes over a thousand kilometers down. We found the place where the city was located before, but it turned into an enormous square-shaped room, nothing else."

Tiria and the twins nodded.

"What do we do now?"

Juvian and Tiria then looked at the experts of Laan City who were also banished. At the moment, they were trying to calm down everyone while deciding what they should do from now on. 

"Everyone wanted those experts to enter their sects. The trade was also meant to help them, so they would probably come to talk to us soon. It would take some time for Mia and others to arrive, not to mention that Ancestor Zuan is following Droman at the moment."

They all nodded. Laan City had too many experts. Even though just around 20% were sent out, they had more high-level experts than a single sect alone. For example, Fuka and Nefere were both experts at the Saint Realm. If they decided to open a sect, they would instantly be on par with the power of Jialin. Let alone Soul Transformation and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators who were more numerous. 

Eventually, Fuka, Nefere, Sira, and a few other members of Laan City came forward to talk with the Nascent Soul Realm experts of Jialin.

"Well, this turned out a bit different than we expected. Even those who didn't know if they should come out or not were teleported outside with us. It took some time to calm them down."

Xansio of the Royal Family then asked.

"Does Senior Nefere know where Laan City went to?"

Nefere shook his head.

"We didn't even know that the city could disappear like this. Perhaps that's how the city was moved in the past. No, it was most likely the case. Anyway, we have no way to know where it has gone now. It might be in this world, or it might not be. In any case, at least half of us already wanted to leave anyway."

Tiria asked something else.

"Aren't you afraid that it was your ancestors that took the city away, leaving you behind? That would have proved Wario and the other elders' beliefs."

Fuka and the others immediately shook their heads.

"We doubt it. Why would they have waited until this last moment to do so? Just to see who believed and who didn't? That doesn't make sense since many generations came and went. Just two or three thousand years ago, there wasn't a single non-believer. Even if there was, it would be only a few, not enough to make up for even 1% of the population. Wouldn't that time be much better to bring the city away?"

Furen shook his head.

"They might not have had the chance to do that in the past, simple as that."

Sira shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Anyway, what difference would it make? We are out, just like most of us wanted. Laan City is no more either. There is no point in pondering about it anymore. We need to focus on what to do from now on."

Fuka nodded as he looked at the Nascent Soul Realm experts of Jialin.

"Well, then. Who wants to start? We would like to hear an explanation of how things work around here. From what I can see, you are all from different powers, so it will be good to hear each sides' opinion."

Galios then asked what most of them wanted to know.

"Before that, what do you intend to do? To be honest, with the number of experts that senior Fuka and Nefere have, it wouldn't be hard for you to establish your own sect. I won't lie here since you would find about it sooner or later. You alone would be stronger than any of our sects. Only if we allied would we be able to pose any threat to experts of your level."

Fuka and Nefere nodded.

"Indeed. We also thought about creating our own place to stay, but I'm happy that you were sincere about you guys being weaker. You probably noticed after you saw our conversation in Laan City, but Laan Citizens are not found of killing. We prefer to have things as peaceful as possible. Perhaps that's because we have lived in that city during our entire lives, so we had to cherish the little company we had."

"That being said, we really have no intention of causing any trouble to you or any other power around. That's why we want an explanation about the world we are in at the moment."

Galios nodded, satisfied. It would be very troublesome if they suddenly decided to take someone's territory forcefully.

And just like that, the Nascent Soul Realm experts of the sect began to explain about Jialin, the surrounding countries, the empire, and so on. Because they were all from different sects, no one tried to lie since the other five could immediately reveal the truth.

A few hours later, both sides finally finished the questions and answers they had for each other.

"I see, now our Laan City has a picture of where we stand."

Fuka looked at the others, and they nodded.

"We need some time to decide."